The Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has restated Nigeria’s commitment to the Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention, 2004.
Dakuku also said NIMASA remained determined to ensure cleaner oceans and a safe, secure and environmentally sound maritime sector.
Peterside stated these in his keynote address at the opening of a three-day regional workshop on Ballast Water Management for Anglophone West and Central African Countries, hosted by Nigeria in Lagos. He said growing concerns about the adverse effect on the marine environment of invasive alien species produced by ballast carried by ships gave rise to the BWM convention of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).
He stated, “Since the advent of the Convention, efforts have been made to ensure effective implementation of its provisions, among which is this Regional Workshop.
Dakuku disclosed that Nigeria, being among the earliest countries to ratify the Convention, had taken steps to ensure its effective implementation. Such steps, according to him, include: the development and gazetting of regulations on Ballast Water Management, pursuant to the Nigerian Merchant Shipping Act, 2007; development of an enforcement and implementation manual on ships’ ballast water; and development of guidelines with reference to relevant IMO documents for ballast water reception facility and exchange areas.
On his part, Secretary-General of IMO, Mr. Kitack Lim, who was represented by the Technical Officer, Sub-Division for Prospective Measures, Marine Environment Division, Dr. Megan Jensen, noted that the marine environment and marine resources were vital to the global economy and sustainable economic growth.
